I recently picked up a Tufloc dual weapon mount from our now defunct police dept. This is the style that is mounted to a rack, weapons between the seats.

I have a 1988 Ford F350 crewcab. I will be tinting the rear windows. I am not opposed to building a mount, and only having one weapon. I have a few locations in mind:

1. Making my own mount, and having one weapon up front, on the passenger side, mounted vertically, just to the right side of the stick shift. Easy to access, but can be seen.

2. In the rear, weapons access from back door, between seats. Out of the way, although lose access to the rear from the front. Need to get out of vehicle to access. Will not be seen as much when windows are tinted. Can mount a rifle and shotgun.

3. Behind rear seat. Again, would need to manufacture a mount, weapons would need to be turned sideways for access. Rear seat may need to come forward. Would be difficult to see. Could have 2 weapons, but would need to be accessed from either side of the truck.

What does everyone think of the pros and cons of each? I live rurally, very rurally. The nearest town is small. The sheriff endorses my idea of mounting a rifle securely in my truck (and is doing the same in his). The rifle and/or shotgun will be riding unloaded per CO state law. I come across the occasional 4 legged critters that may need dispatching, and having a little more than my pistol out in the boonies is comforting also. I would also feel a lot better going to town for supplies knowing the rifle is securely mounted in my vehicle.

What would you do?

At one point, my dept looked at a roof mount for shotguns. This mounted the gun above your head. Good access and out of sight, for the most part. I don't recall if it was lockable or not. It mounted using the fittings for the coat hooks on the headliner. I don't recall who made it.
Update: It looks like a roof mount made by Big Sky is priced about 55 bucks. Then the gun is secured by an ordinary cable lock.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: YooperSigs,

If you're planning to leave the rifle in the vehicle when it's unattended, I'd recommend it being behind the rear seat, where it's out of sight. I know of cases in which vehicles have been stolen so that the weapons locked in racks or strong boxes could be taken at the thieves' leisure, and your good old pickup isn't going to be that hard to steal.

Thanks guys. I was hoping some LEO might chime in, to give some perspective of grabbing a rifle in the cab, and accessible, or having to get out of the vehicle to access the weapon.

I tried #2 today, the in between the seats, facing rearward, but accessed to the back, and definitely a no go. From the front, I am banging my elbow on it, no access to rear, etc. Annoying. So that is out.

I do like the idea of behind the rear seat, for safety concerns. I also like the idea of up front. I may end up lightly tinting the front also. This seems ideal.

Thanks again for the input.

I am assuming your truck has a console which definitely makes convenient positioning more difficult. The roof mounting could have merits. I think the FBI used that manner for awhile several years ago.

From a security standpoint, this probably wouldn't be acceptable to you. In my last assigned patrol car (Mustang) I had a loosely mounted leather scabbard in front of the bucket seats (no console) with the stock on the drivers door side. The scabbard rested on two large U shaped mounts secured to the seat mounts. Being loose allowed me to pull the scabbard out from the passenger door if I was on that side. It had an 870 in it. It sounds cumbersome but it was quick and secure. The scabbard was discarded with the draw.

My CAR 15 was mounted in another loose scabbard behind the bucket seats since prisoners were not carried in the back seat. It was accessible from the drivers side but a little more difficult to remove from the passenger side because the seat back had to be moved before the scabbard could be removed.

In a crew cab, anything behind the seats is accessible to rear inquisitive passengers and limits space to them. You also have the B pillar in the way. And opening drivers door and rear doors will definitely slow down quick access.

Thanks. That was my concern. Needing it and having to get out and open another door to get to it. My truck has a manual transmission, so no center console, per se.

Roof mounting doesn't seem ideal. This is a big pickup truck, most folks would be looking up into it. Also, I do not have the coat hooks side to side, only on the back in the rear.

The more I think of it, I may just mount up front, one weapon to the right of the gear shift, like the older police cars used. I am concerned about safety, hence the locking mount, but live in such a small town, would probably have more inquiries as to how I did it than people looking to steal my truck. I am really leaning towards a front mount, one weapon.

Again, thanks for your advice.